Afghanistan: Strategic Review

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What contribution they are making to the three service reviews of the situation in Afghanistan being undertaken by the United States and NATO; and by when they anticipate their own strategic review of the Afghan mission will be complete.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: We are closely engaged with the US and other NATO allies regarding policy in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister outlined the conclusions of the UK's own policy review on 12 December 2007, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Germany

Lord Macaulay of Bragar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many members of HM Armed Forces are currently based in Germany; how many civil personnel are also based there; and what legal and military duties the British personnel perform while in Germany.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: There are currently approximately 20,900 military and 2,200 UK civilian personnel based in Germany as part of the British force. Their presence in Germany is governed by the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) of 19 June 1951 and by the supplementary agreement relating to the status of foreign forces in Germany dated 3 August 1959. The two principal British Army units in Germany are 1 (UK) Armoured Division and United Kingdom Support Command (Germany). 1 (UK) Armoured Division's primary task is to prepare force elements and individuals for operations. United Kingdom Support Command (Germany)'s mission is to provide the necessary range of operational, personnel, training and infrastructure support to enable and sustain military capability.
	These units continue to be based in Germany as the UK is committed to its contribution to NATO and co-operation with its allies in the alliance. The UK also benefits from the opportunity to train armoured units in Germany, and to make use of training areas in Eastern Europe, which are less accessible from the UK. With the approval of the German Government, we plan to continue to station two armoured brigades and their supporting units in Germany for the foreseeable future.

Armed Forces: Germany

Lord Macaulay of Bragar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the British military personnel will cease duties in Germany and leave the country; and whether the decision to relocate the British troops from Germany is one which is in the sole control of the Government.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The move of 4 Mechanised Brigade back to the UK has been approved and will take place in late 2008.
	The BORONA programme has been looking at the feasibility of moving further elements of our Germany-based forces to the UK, and in particular, the headquarters of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC) with its intimate supporting elements, 102 Logistic Brigade (102 Log Bde) and 1 Signal Brigade (1 Sig Bde). Detailed plans are being drawn up for the moves, starting with HQ ARRC, which could move as early as 2009. The moves of the two brigades would be completed by 2014. With 4 Mechanised Brigade, this represents 30 per cent of UK service personnel based in Germany.
	The decision to relocate the British troops from Germany is one which is in the sole control of the Government. The moves are subject to final approval by the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, following scrutiny by and advice from the MoD's Investment Approvals Board.

Armed Forces: Germany

Lord Macaulay of Bragar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the current annual costs in relation to the presence of British troops and support services in Germany.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate effort. However, operational, personnel, training and infrastructure support is provided to British Forces, Germany, by United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) and the expenditure in financial year 2006-07 was £243 million. This figure includes costs associated with pay for locally employed civilians, utilities, white fleet vehicle leasing and fuel, catering, leisure and retail activities, stores and the British Forces Germany Health Service. The figure does not include costs associated with military or UK based civilian pay, military equipment, service children's education facilities, estate works and maintenance, or IT and communications.

Armed Forces: Gulf War Veterans

Lord Roberts of Conwy: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Bolton on 27 November (WA 108), whether the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency's decisions in the case of Gulf War veteran, the late Mr T E Walker, were in accordance with the evidence and the rules of the scheme; and whether they have any bearing on the case of Mr Mark McGreevy or that of any other Gulf War veteran.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: An incorrect decision was made in the case of the late Mr T E Walker and the Ministry of Defence made an apology to Mr Walker's family. This was followed by an apology from my noble friend Lord Drayson on 11 October 2007 (Official Report, col. 341).
	The mistake made in Mr Walker's case has no bearing on the case of Mr Mark McGreevy or that of any other Gulf War veteran.

Armed Forces: Gulf War Veterans

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How blood samples from Gulf War veterans are being banked so that, as new assay methods emerge for organic compounds, the samples can be tested; and whether samples are being banked from other veterans returning from other conflicts.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: A number of blood samples were collected from UK service personnel being prepared for deployment to the Gulf in 1990-91 at various stages of the anti-biological warfare agent vaccination programme; these are currently stored at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Porton Down. The samples are stored at -20C and in theory could be subjected to additional testing as new techniques emerge. However, these samples are now over 16 years old and inevitably will deteriorate with time.
	The samples were analysed in 1991 with the aim of investigating the level of protection conferred by giving anthrax vaccine in combination with pertussis vaccine. The results of the study were set out in a paper "Operation GRANBY: The effect of co-administration of the pertussis vaccine on specific antibody titre development to the anthrax vaccine in man", which was made available in October 1997 and is available in the Library of the House. The Ministry of Defence has no plans for additional banking of blood samples from veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf conflict, and has not collected samples from UK service personnel deployed to Iraq (Op TELIC) and Afghanistan (Op HERRICK).

Armed Forces: Personnel Overseas

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many military service personnel are currently serving overseas, broken down by country; and, for each country, how many of them serve in each of the three Armed Forces.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The strength of UK regular forces personnel in each of the three Armed Forces currently serving overseas broken down by country is available in tri-service publication (TSP) 10—UK Regular Forces Stationed Location. The most recent publication provides the numbers of service personnel at 1 April 2007.
	Copies of TSP 10 are available in the Library of the House and are also at www.dasa.mod.uk/publications/tsp10/pdfs/tsp10_apr07.pdf.

Aviation: Air Contamination

Lord Tyler: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which of the tricresyl phosphate (TCP) isomers they consider is the most and second most toxic isomer of TCP.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The Government have not undertaken a specific comparative toxicological assessment of tricresyl phosphate isomers.

Aviation: Air Contamination

Lord Tyler: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they consider mono-ortho-cresyl-phosphate (MOCP) more or less toxic than triorthocresyl phosphate (TOCP); and when this toxicity was first accepted.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The Government have not carried out a specific comparative toxicological assessment of mono-ortho-cresyl-phosphate and triorthocresyl phosphate.

Belarus: Human Rights

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they are taking with the Government of Belarus regarding the freedom of assembly and expression of the views of Belarusian citizens.

Lord Malloch-Brown: Belarus' human rights record remains poor. The Belarus Government continue to threaten and detain those exercising their right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, and they harass and intimidate independent media, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society. These actions have created a climate of intimidation and fear. Despite strong appeals from the international community and its institutions, it is clear to us that the authorities have no intention of instituting reform and improve even the basic rights of its citizens.
	The UK and the EU take every opportunity in the UN Human Rights Council and the third committee of the UN General Assembly to express our concerns about Belarus' human rights record. In November 2007, EU members co-authored a resolution on Belarus in the third committee of the UN General Assembly. The resolution reiterated deep concern at the deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus, including Belarus' failure to co-operate with the UN human rights mechanisms; its failure to conduct free and fair elections, including the detention and arrest of political and civil society activists; and persistent reports of harassment and closure of NGOs, national minority groups, independent media outlets, religious groups, opposition political parties and independent trades unions as well as expressing its disappointment at the Government's failure to create conditions for the people of Belarus to freely express their will during the local elections in January 2007.
	Our embassy in Minsk, with EU partners, continues to raise human rights concerns with the authorities. We maintain regular contacts with civil society organisations devoted to human and civil rights, and observe their public demonstrations as well as fund projects that focus on local grassroots democracy-building and youth participation in democracy activities.

European Parliament: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they propose to amend legislation to allow vacancies from Northern Ireland to the European Parliament to be filled by a list system similar to that in the rest of the United Kingdom.

Lord Rooker: Any change to the existing system would require primary legislation and there are no current plans for this. In addition to this, legislative amendment would have to be preceded by careful consideration of, and wide consultation on, the different options for change to ensure that the way forward is in the best interests of all concerned, including the people of Northern Ireland.

Fluoridation

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Warner on 9 October 2006 (WA 38), whether the guidance given to strategic health authorities on monitoring the health of populations receiving fluoridated water has now been issued; and whether the health indices referred to include the potential adverse effects that were noted in the recommendations from the reports on fluoridation by the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York (2000), the Medical Research Council (2002) and the National Research Council of the US Academy of Sciences (2006).

Lord Darzi of Denham: We plan to issue this guidance early in 2008. I can confirm that these reports are being taken into account in its development.

Fluoridation

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in the light of the potentially misleading account of the scientific evidence on water fluoridation described by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in Sections 7.43 to 7.47 of its recent report Public Health: Ethical Issues, they will provide for the updating of the 2000 York review and its incorporation into the Cochrane Library.

Lord Darzi of Denham: We award higher priority to implementation of the recommendation in the York review for new primary research into the effects of fluoridation. Proposals for a study on the cost-benefits of fluoridation and the extent to which any benefits continue into adulthood is currently being considered for inclusion in the National Health Service research programme.

Gershon Review: DIUS

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In the case of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, how many (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory redundancies have been taken to date as a result of the Gershon review; what is the total departmental bill for each type of redundancy; and what is the natural wastage during the Gershon period to date for the department.

Lord Triesman: The department came into existence as part of the machinery of government changes announced on 28 June 2007. There have not been any voluntary or compulsory redundancies since it was formed and it is too early at this stage to offer any meaningful statistics on natural wastage.

Gershon Review: DoH

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In the case of the Department of Health, how many (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory redundancies have been taken to date as a result of the Gershon review; what is the total departmental bill for each type of redundancy; and what is the natural wastage during the Gershon period to date for the department.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The figures for years 2004-05 to date are presented below by financial year. Data for 2003-04 could be established only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Year Compulsory £ Voluntary £ Total £ Number of leavers 
			 2004-05 18,808,078 4,334,777 23,142,855 200 
			 2005-06 3,560,055 2,981,767 6,541,822 33 
			 2006-07 3,013,354 1,713,311 4,726,665 39 
			 2007-08 to date 620,130 5,751,786 6,371,916 68 
		
	
	For the six months to 30 September 2007, staff turnover in the department was 17 per cent (full year equivalent). For the 12 months to 31 March 2006,.the corresponding figure was 11 per cent. For the 12 months to 31 March 2006 the corresponding figure was 17 per cent.
	These figures cover all turnover categories, and in particular civil servants whose temporary contracts finished, those whose work transferred to other organisations as well as those who left under voluntary retirement and severance schemes.

Prisoners: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many prisoners in Northern Ireland were allowed out of prison for Christmas in 2007; and how many have returned to prison.

Lord Rooker: Eighty-two prisoners were granted Christmas home leave, from which they were required to return by 2 January. Two were posted unlawfully at large, for failing to return on the agreed date, but both have now returned to prison.

Railways: Eurostar North Pole Depot

Lord Berkeley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 14 December 2007 (WA 87), whether BRB (Residuary) Limited will follow agreed processes in consulting with relevant stakeholders on the disposal of the former Eurostar depot at North Pole.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: BRB (Residual) Limited will be asked to follow established and published guidance in consulting with relevant stakeholders on the disposal of the former Eurostar depot at North Pole. The latest guidance was announced to Parliament on 26 July 2007. Copies of that guidance are available in the Library of the House and on the BRB (Residuary) Ltd website at www.brbr.gov.uk.

Roads: A1

Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What plans they have for a dual carriageway for the A1 in Northumberland, in particular for the main road between Newcastle-on-Tyne and Edinburgh.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Government have no current plans to upgrade the section of the A1 between Newcastle and the Scottish border.

Special Advisers: Northern Ireland Office

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many special ministerial advisers are in the Northern Ireland Office; and what is the total budgeted cost per annum of these advisers including salary, travel and subsistence; and
	Who are the special ministerial advisers working in the Northern Ireland Office; and what is the specialist discipline relevant to each appointment.

Lord Rooker: I refer the noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Prime Minister on 22 November 2007 (Official Report, Commons, col. 148WS) on "Numbers and Cost of Special Advisers". Since publication of that Statement, Oonagh Blackman has also been appointed as a special adviser in the Northern Ireland Office.